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Who Is Martin Luther King Jr Letter To Birmingham Jail

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Dr. Martin Luther KingJr., played a pivotal role in ending segregation. King led many non-violent protests against it and took a lot of abuse for it. In spring of 1963 King organized a demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The police came to disrupt the protest. They turned dogs and firehoses on the demonstrators. King and many of his supporters were thrown in jail. While in jail, he wrote a letter to the clergymen about his non-violent acts. First, King addresses their claim that he is an "...outsider coming in,” (King 2) to disturb life in Birmingham. King states that he was there because one of his friends invited him and his supporters to Birmingham to help battle injustice. Next he talks about the criticism from the clergymen …show more content…

King shares in his letter that he is there to fight injustice. “ But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” (King 3) There are many cases of injustice all over the world and over many periods of time. King got his idea of non-violent protests from Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi led the people of India into independence from the British by using non-violent acts. Both Dr. King and Gandhi have proven that non-violent acts can solve things. Our natural thinking when have been wronged is to fight back, but if we learn from people like Dr. King we can fight injustice without people getting hurt. The life that Dr. King chose wasn’t an easy one. He had to put up with a lot of abuse from many different people. Through all the ups and downs, King never gave up, never backed down, and always stood firm to what he believed in. He has inspired many people, back then and today, to stand firm to their beliefs no matter what gets in their …show more content…

King these protesters are fighting for something they strongly believe in. They have been pushed back my local police through violent acts, yet they remain strong in their fight for injustice. “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: … determine whether injustice exists; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action.” (King 6). These acts are still used today to solve many problems like to on happening in Hong Kong. King is the only one who people take after today; the clergymen are a lot like bullies today. They put down other to build themselves up. The clergymen put down Dr. King and his supporters so they could be stronger. Because Dr. King never backed down segregation ended. If more people were like Dr. King, and stood up for what they believed in, then we would have a peaceful world without injustice. King had a hope for a peaceful future where no matter the color of your skin you could live in harmony with your neighbors. As we see today, King’s hope of a better life came true. The South is no longer segregated and blacks have just as many rights as whites. Although our world today is not perfect, we have come a lot further from segregation. King has taught us that injustice can be fought and overcome through peaceful

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King was in Birmingham because injustice was prominent. King was arrested on April 16, 1963. for ignoring an injunction by the government. During King’s time in jail, which was for eight days, he wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” His letter was written to justify his actions and to defend his acts of nonviolent protests.

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Because this trust placed in the Birmingham “city fathers” has been broken it is now time to take action. King acts in the best way he knows hoe, through direct-action in the form of nonviolent demonstrations. These demonstrations include sit-ins, marches, and other things of that

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1. King addresses “The Clergyman” in his response letter from a Birmingham jail in attempts to refute and further explain his position and reason for his actions. In response to their claims that his methods we “unwise and untimely” (King 800) he begins with a layout of why he feels that this letter and distinction is important and why he has come to Birmingham. It is in no uncertain terms a brief history of why and how he became involved in the activities if Birmingham. King argues, “Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” (King 800) laying the ground work and rationale for his involvement and actions.

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Martin Luther King Jr, in the letter from a Birmingham Jail he addresses himself as a patriot and as a priest. He entitles himself as both, as metaphors that he is enlightening the people of 1963 and to reveal the ignorance they've done under the name of God. King writes as a, a Civil Rights Leader, an American Citizen, Clergyman, a Christian Brother, a United States Negro, and a Judeo-Christian leader. He defines himself as a man of God as well a man of the United States in such way that demonstrates his beliefs as well, as a committed member. He states “Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so

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Continuing in his letter King goes on to tell the clergy men they need to take into consideration all the other things that are going on in the South like police brutality, bombing of homes, churches and much more instead of worrying about his protest. By the same token, he states in his letter that he got a chance to sit down with leaders of the economic community to make negations and promises that did not take place for example taking down humiliating signs from stores, but they broke all those promised so King prepared to take direct action which was protesting. Concluding the letter King states “I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership in the

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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King Jr. says this in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He says this because he feels responsible for everyone in Birmingham and “whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly”. Everything needed to be right or that it would eventually affect everyone and everything. The reason he wrote this letter was because he was trying to convince the eight clergymen that him and his people should use the demonstrations that King provides because it would bring Birmingham out in so many ways.

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Dr. Martin Luther King is and was worldly known for his peacefully protest and moral advocacy during the the civil rights movement. Racism was a social norm occurring frequently especially in the south. African American rights were to a minimum or you could also say they had “negative rights”. With respect to the government, I believe Dr. King was in some ways forced to break the law. Dr. King in A letter from Birmingham Jail states that, “We urge people to obey the Supreme Courts decision from 1954 outlawing segregation.”

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1.) Martin Luther King Jr. writes an open letter, which he calls “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to respond to the accusations made about him from clergymen. The letter initiates by King explaining the reasons for his presence in Birmingham and clarifying that he was invited to the city. Next, King defines the steps of a non-violent direct action and provides the reasoning for this approach.

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Dr. King wanted to end segregation and he also wanted equal rights for everyone, but he was told by the clergyman that the movement was “unwise” and “untimely”. King explained that there will never be a right time for change in this society with bringing equality and justice to us all. Dr. King was told several times to wait, which prolonged his protest and marches. King became frustrated because people were being mistreated and judged everyday based off the color of their skin. Dr. King felt that segregation was wrong, and he refused to sit back and do nothing.

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King was in Birmingham because he was invited to engage in a nonviolent direct action program, due to the injustice suffered by African- Americans in Birmingham. African-Americans were considered by many to be “outsiders” to this country, even though they were born in this country. King was not going to stand by and allow this to continue. Instead, King peacefully protested and resulted in him being put in jail. King used his voice in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to express and encourage others to stand up to these injustices.

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Growing up in a segregated area has highly influenced King’s perspective. He viewed all kinds of people as one people and highly advocated for minority rights and freedoms during the 20th century. He wanted equality and a society

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